Over 60 persons were Friday afternoon burnt to death in a fatal multiple accident involving a trailer, an oil tanker and a luxury bus.

Following the accident which occurred at Ugbogui village, along the Benin-Ore-Lagos Expressway, a heavy traffic gridlock resulted with commuters on the dual carriageway stranded for several hours.

Three passengers of the luxury bus who were rescued were rushed to a nearby hospital. They were badly burnt.

The driver of the trailer, his motor boy and 57 passengers in the luxury bus were among the dead.

Witnesses said the accident occurred at about 1.30 pm, when a trailer loaded with cement reportedly had a burst tyre and rammed into a petrol tanker carrying fuel which hit the fully loaded luxury bus with the inscription “Young Shall Grow Motors.” The luxury bus reportedly burst into flame upon contact.

An official of the Federal Road Safety Commission [FRSC], who confirmed the story but pleaded anonymity, explained that the trailer was coming from Lagos while the tanker and luxury bus were said to be travelling in the opposite direction.

He said rescue operation had commenced, while fire fighters were yet to get to the scene of the accident at press time.

In an interview, a spokesman for the FRSC, Jonas Agwu said 36 people were killed in the accident.

“Thirty-six deaths confirmed” from the accident on the Benin-Ore highway at Igbogui village in southern Edo state, Jonas Agwu said.

He said the dead included 30 passengers from the bus. Four people from the tanker died as well as two children who were at a nearby mechanic workshop, Agwu said.

Three people were rescued, he said. Details were still emerging from the scene of the accident.

Agwu said that fire which erupted from the accident quickly “spread to a nearby mechanic workshop where eight other vehicles got burnt. A nearby local market also got burnt.”

The highway links Nigeria’s commercial capital Lagos with eastern and southern states of the country.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, has one of the worst road accident records in Africa, with poor roads, badly maintained vehicles and reckless driving conspiring to kill thousands every year.

Eighteen people were killed and nine others seriously injured Wednesday when their bus veered off its lane and collided with another bus along a highway linking the capital Abuja to the central city of Lokoja, officials said.

I saw it and its true, people were burnt beyound recognition and another one happened at Ihaiala LG of Anambra state about 30km to Onitsha where 40 people also lost their lives when a container fell on two 18 passenger bus that were going toward Onitsha around 12:00pm today

90% OF VEHICLES ON NIGERIA ROAD ARE NOT ROAD WORTHY. I SOMETIME WONDER IF VEHICLES STILL DO ANNUAL INSPECTION FOR ROAD WORTHINESS. OUR ROAD SAFETY OFFICERS ARE MORE INTERESTED IN THE 20NAIRA BRIBE. THIS IS ANOTHER WAY CORRUPTION IS KILLING US, HAD IT BEEN THAT THE CEMENT TRUCK WAS PROPERLY INSPECTED FOR ROAD WORTHINESS, THE DRIVER WON’ BE DRIVER WITH WORN OUT TIRES THAT BUSTED AND CAUSED THIS GHASTLY ACCIDENT.
MAY THE SOUL OF THE DEAD PEOPLE REST IN PEACE.

This is pure boko haram that planted IEDs in either the fuel tanker or dangote trailerand their target is young shall grow luxury bus.trailers have 10 tyres,if one tyre bursted at the back or centre there is a spare tyre on the wheels that will keep the vehicle moving gallantly.except the two tyres at the front of the trailer that rarely burst.

The level of bad roads in the country is appalling. Are govt officials not ashamed of themselves? They budget for road maintenance and construction with nothing to show. The money is all swallowed up by officials. People who have no conscience. A country with enormous oil revenue ! Its a shame to Nigeria.

“Nigeria: Over 60 die in ghastly multiple crash”
The caption should have read: “Nigeria: Over 60 die in fatal multiple crash”

Please do note that you use the adjective ‘ghastly’ to describe an accident in which the victims sustain some wounds and injuries,
while you use “fatal” to describe an accident that is deadly or an incident in which people die!.